London Welsh bounced back in to the Aviva Premiership in May and Burnell wants to do more than just survive in the top flight

London Welsh boss Justin Burnell has called on his players to be thinking about more than just staying alive in the Aviva Premiership next season.

The newly-promoted exiles kick off their season when they welcome Exeter to the Kassam Stadium on September 7 and will be broadcast live on BT Sport.

Welsh secured an immediate return to the top flight when they beat Bristol in the Championship play-off final in May but head coach Burnell is setting his sights higher than staying up.

"We want to compete. This word 'survive' - everyone will focus around that word but we want to compete," Burnell said.

"Going into that second leg of the final against Bristol, instead of worrying about just getting the aggregate win our mindset was to win the game.

"We thought that would give us the perfect preparation for the Premiership - we came out with that mindset and that's something we have to take into this season."

Burnell and the board at London Welsh have wasted no time in bolstering their ranks ahead of the new campaign. The club have brought in 20 new players already and the former Cardiff Blues coach revealed there are a few more still to come.

"We've made 20 signings to date and we've got another five or six signings to come in which will hopefully stand us in good stead," he said.

"Those five or six are more than Premiership standard. It's exciting times for us and we'll give it our best shot."

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